Talk:Nils Olav

Use of "Sir"

The title of "Sir" seems to be unique to British knighthoods, whereas the penguin received a Norwegian one. I don't know enough about the Norwegian honours system to determine what the corresponding honorific would be - if there is one - but the style currently given strikes me as wrong. Robin S. Taylor (talk) 02:50, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

ref 9 quotes a zoo spokesperson: 'He'll be a "sir" now', and that usage is universal among the later sources. I have no idea whether that is technically correct under the Norwegian honours system, or if 'sir' is simply an English translation of the correct Norwegian word. Either way, there's no need to change the article without a reliable source saying it's wrong. Modest Genius ^talk 11:17, 4 May 2020 (UTC)

Rank vs appointment

There seems to be some confusion between the penguin's rank and his honorary appointments. Nils Olav has received three distinct things:

• His military rank, currently major general in the Norwegian army
• His noble title, currently Baron of the Bouvet Islands
• His honorary appointments, currently mascot and colonel-in-chief, both in the King's Guard

These should not be mixed together. There is no such thing as 'major general of the King's Guard', just as there's no such thing as 'baron of the Norwegian Army'. The confusion presumably stems from the term 'colonel-in-chief' sounding like a rank, but it actually isn't one - it essentially means 'patron' and is a separate concept from a rank. Please stop mixing them up. Modest Genius ^talk 11:39, 31 January 2024 (UTC)

"Baron of the Bouvet Islands" Origin

Is there any source on where/when the Baron of the Bouvet Islands title came from? The earliest mention of it I've found is from what I assume is an update to an article from August 2016 in The Times (the update happening sometime before July 30 2021, more than 2 years before Sir Nils Olav was promoted to Major General). I've been unable to fully read the article, but it is the earliest mention I've ever seen of the Baron of the Bouvet Islands title. "Brigadier Sir Nils Olav was also given the title of Baron of Bouvet Island, one" (That's as much as it lets me read without a subscription)

The snapshot of The Times article that was taken in 2016 doesn't include any mention of the Baron title, although it's certainly possible that it was there and the only thing that changed was how much of an article The Times' website shows you before asking you to subscribe. The Edinburgh Zoo webpage for Sir Nils Olav was updated to include the Baron title after his promotion in August 2023, and almost every other news article I've seen that includes the Baron title is from after August 21, 2023, the only exception being this one from May 21, 2023.

A thought that has occurred to me (though I don't really believe it) is that the title is just totally made up by The Times.

-On the one hand, no other article from 2016 seems to mention Nils Olav receiving the title of Baron, and to my knowledge the Norwegian Kingsguard didn't visit him between 2016 and 2023 so it probably wasn't a "promotion" he received between Brigadier and Major General. And yet, someone called him Baron of the Bouvet Islands 2 years before anyone else did. Also, I've always seen the title written as "Baron of the Bouvet Islands" but there's only one Bouvet Island, it's not part of a chain or anything. The Norwegian Wikipedia article on Sir Nils Olav doesn't mention the Baron of Bouvet Islands or even the island itself at all.

-On the other hand, the Edinburgh Zoo's website does refer to him as Baron of the Bouvet Islands, and I would hope they know whether or not that's real.

There's evidence of him having the title before 2023, but no dates for when he actually got the title. If anyone knows more, I'd love to hear it. Thribby ribby (talk) 17:06, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

How strange. I too don't have access to the Times article, but outside the paywall there's no declaration that it has ever been modified, so the differences on archive.org are probably just in the length of the preview. I would be surprised if a reputable newspaper would make up a noble title, or add it to the article years later with no notice of the change. The title has been reported by later reliable sources, including the BBC and Edinburgh Zoo itself, with no sign of anyone disputing it, so it's verified. I can only assume that most press in 2016 found the rank more interesting to report than the barony, or the barony was only mentioned in the Norwegian-language press release. I also wonder what the exact title is in Norwegian - if it refers to Bouvetøya & Larsøya that would explain the plural when translated into English. Modest Genius ^talk 13:12, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

Which side?

The caption to the photograph showing him reviewing the troops says he is wearing his military insignia on his right flipper, but either it is his left flipper or the photograph is reversed. Which is it? J S Ayer (talk) 17:37, 21 April 2025 (UTC)

It's clearly on his right flipper in that image. Modest Genius ^talk 17:16, 23 April 2025 (UTC)

You are correct, I misinterpreted his feet and missed the fact that his back is gray while his belly is white. J S Ayer (talk) 17:45, 24 April 2025 (UTC)

Nils Olav was on the main page in 2007 - right?

A hat note on this talk page says that this article appeared in the DYK section on the main page on 1 April 2007, with the entry

Did you know... that Nils Olav is the world's highest ranked penguin (pictured)?

and that

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2007/April.

However, there is no mention of Nils Olav on that page, and he is not listed in the archived DYK section for the day. Was the article actually on the main page, or did someone mess with the April Fools' entries in the archive? Renerpho (talk) 14:57, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

Okay, looks like it was removed in 2009. @Shubinator: Any idea why you did this? Renerpho (talk) 15:02, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

I'm not sure what the motivation was for that edit 16 years ago. Flipping through DYK history, it appears the article was on DYK, but for <3 hours. Added in Special:Diff/119381477, removed in Special:Diff/119407871, readded in Special:Diff/119409251, removed again in Special:Diff/119411492. Probably figured the archives reflecting the end state was best. Shubinator (talk) 00:35, 11 March 2026 (UTC)